The Mark Pope era at Kentucky is off to an impressive start.
Pope's Wildcats upset No. 6 Duke in a 77-72 thriller Tuesday night at the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta, earning the former BYU head coach his first major highlight back at his alma mater.
Kentucky rallied from a 9-point halftime deficit to stun superstar Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils, who missed 11 of their final 14 field goal attempts down the stretch.
Former Cougars star Jaxson Robinson , who transferred out of BYU in the offseason to reunite with Pope at Kentucky, logged 29 minutes for the Wildcats while recording one point, one rebound and two blocks.
Farmington product Collin Chandler , a onetime Cougars commit himself before flipping to the Wildcats, played two minutes in the contest.
Pope played two seasons at Kentucky, winning a national championship with the program in 1996 under legendary coach Rick Pitino. Following five seasons piloting BYU, Pope accepted the head job for the Wildcats this past April to succeed John Calipari.
In addition to Robinson and Chandler, Pope brought assistant coaches Cody Fueger and Nick Robinson with him from BYU to Kentucky. Fueger remained an assistant, while Robinson transitioned into the director of basketball operations role.
Pope's Wildcats are now 3-0 on the young season and should be expected to rise from their current No. 19 ranking in the AP top 25.
